I’d like to document on this forum a list of devices which have the ability to accept input from other devices.
I personally am thinking of buying a Motion sensor called a Dakota which can output when it detects motion via Dry Contacts.
I know of some already to start us off:
Ecolink Z-Wave Garage Door Tilt Sensor
Schlage Rs100hc Z-wave Door & Window Sensor
If you are ok with cutting off a water sensor and cabling, this seems pretty much the cheapest option I can find globally is the Tuya water leak sensor: https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005004384160139.html
(Credit for finding the Tuya goes to legend @Paul_Oliver )
Do you mean that have dry contacts? Because “input from external sources” could mean a lot of different things.
If you just mean have dry contacts, then one model of the Fibaro door sensor is popular for this purpose in the UK.
And there are even several devices available in both the US and the UK which are made specifically for this purpose:
1)
Fortrezz Mimolite
The original, was very popular, but the company has since been bought by one which is targeting professional installers and it is becoming hard to find for DIY
Aeotec Door Sensor Pro (The “pro model“ has Dry Contacts)
This replaces their earlier dry contact sensor. Available in both US and the UK. Uses the series 700 chip, so should have excellent range and battery life. Make sure you get the one that matches your hub frequency, so don’t try to use a US model with a UK hub or vice versa.
The Nexia doorbell sensor although made specifically for doorbells, is also designed for this purpose, but is only available on the US frequency.
Fibaro also makes a “universal sensor” for this purpose, but it is limited to lines with a maximum of 30V . Still, it’s good for some low-voltage projects like some gate openers.
available in the UK zwave frequency:
Or in the US:
Here is one community-created custom edge Driver for it:
The Ecolink door sensor is only available on the US frequency, and is a popular choice. However, be aware that some people have reported that they received individual devices that didn’t have the dry contact screws inside, even though they have the same model number. It’s not clear whether those were different production runs or maybe even counterfeits. (it’s been known to happen.) so I would only buy these from someplace with a good returns policy just in case you get one of the ones without the contacts.
Everspring has a similar model to the eco-link available in the UK. Try Vesternet for that one.
And new for 2020: Zooz has a very interesting zwave S2 module for the US with 3 dry contacts. Zooz provides an edge Driver, for it linked from the product page.
(Popp has announced a similar design for the EU only, the SA01, but while it has been certified I have not yet seen it for sale anywhere.)
2022 update
Zooz now has several models that have dry contact terminals, all at very good prices and with the newest Z wave features. But only available on the North American frequency. These make a good substitute for the old Mimolite model as long as you are in the US, Canada, or Mexico. Zooz provides edge drivers for most of its devices.
Develco/Frient Zigbee IO module with 4 dry contacts. Available in Europe. @Mariano_Colmenarejo has a very nice custom edge Driver for This, which exposes all 4 dry contacts for use in smartthings routines.
Shelly’s new UNI relay is a really interesting device, probably most similar to the old fortrezz units, but uses Wi-Fi. It’s hard to find in the US, but widely available in Europe. You can also get it shipped to the US by the manufacturer.
If you don’t have a smartthings/Aeotec hub, and want to use the official cloud to cloud integration, check with Shelly to make sure this model is included.
Shelly 1 PM is a WiFi relay with dry contacts. One model is UL certified, which I would highly recommend for this use case. Available in several regions.
If you don’t have a smartthings/Aeotec hub, and want to use the official cloud to cloud integration, check with Shelly to make sure this model is included
If you are looking for something specifically to use with wired security system sensors, like wired window sensors that run to a central panel, there is a system for doing that called Konnected Which has been very popular for this purpose. Contact their support for more information. They do have a cloud to cloud integration, which works with the 2023 smartthings architecture. No SmartThings/Aeotec hub required.
Other kinds of input
On the other hand, if you mean to include devices that can handle an external probe, such as for temperature or moisture, there are several but they are very different from the ones with dry contacts.
The Fibaro. RGBW Controller can accept input from four different analog sensors, and is popular for greenhouse operations. This was popular in the past, but I’m not sure if it still works with smartthings in 2023. It’s no longer on the official compatibility list. Check the forum to be sure.
Or see their “universal Sensor,“ number four above.
Also, the Shelly devices 8) and 9) above can be connected to a ds18b20 probe for temperature monitoring.
There are other devices that can accept input from a single probe sensor, most commonly temperature. But before I start listing those, I wasn’t sure if that was what you were interested in.
Thanks for the post! I had the same issue sourcing the Aerotec one.
AHH I never thought this through - one thing i needed was for the sensor to be simply binary. i.e. if I put my output from my traditional motion sensor into a temperature dry contact sensor, it wouldn’t give me a 1 or a 0 it’d give me nonsense.
Also, technically every Z wave device can “accept input from external sources,” that’s what the radio communications are. So I do think you need to make your topic title more specific.
ah OK ! Does sound a nice device. I also think in the example use case I can see why people have chosen to hack a binary sensor like a door sensor as (I’m assuming) they’re cheaper
thanks @xdreamwalker! does it open up to have dry contact input? or did you have to hack the hardware in some way?
I’m in the UK but surprisingly they aren’t too expensive to import from an Amazon.com marketplace seller! over 4 x more than I pay for Xiaomi door sensors, but that’s not the point, they can potentially save me buying the more expensive dry contact bridges like the Mimolite
There are screw terminals inside for the external contact. You will need to make a hole in the case for wires. There is a thread around here somewhere that has more details.
Wha I don’t know is if they make a UK frequency version.
For the UK, look at the Fibaro Sensor options. They are available on the UK zwave frequency but not on the US frequency. They are quite popular in the community.
Hi @JDRoberts was wondering if you could help advise on something.
I got the Universal Sensor and i’m having a real struggle getting it’s output into SmartThings. It’s a fairly complex device for my needs, do you think i’d have a simpler task with the Fibaro Door Sensor? (it’s annoyingly £10 more but I’m willing to pay that for simplicity of configuration)
EDIT: I’ve just seen that the available Fibaro door sensor is now the v2, whereas all posts I can find on this forum are for the v1, do you have any idea if the v2 has dry contacts?
thanks Alwas! Saved me buying another expensive device!
Really struggling to find a basic contact sensor with dry contacts for use with my GuardLink driveway alarm in the UK - has anyone got any more suggestions for me please?
